Air cooling, circulating, and controlling device and process



Nov. 24, 1936. w. L. MORRlSON 2,062,187

AIR COOLING, CIRCQLATING, ANDDONTROLLING DEVICE AND PROCESS Filed Aug. 25, 1934 2, Shets-Sheet 1 25 2 pi/i791 New. 24, 1%36. w L, MORRlsON 2,062,187

- AIR COOLING, CIRCULATING, AND CONTROLLING DEVICE AND PROCESS Filed Aug. 25, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 24. 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR COOLING,

CIRCULATING, AND

CON-

This invention relates to an air cooling, circulating device and process and has for an object to provide a new and improved device for cooling, isolating and circulating air.

In one form it is adaptable for use in cooling and circulating air in a portion of the room or any enclosed or unenclosed space. In the particular form illustrated herewith it is shown as an enclosed bed, which bed is mounted within an enclosure which is open at the top but is closed elsewhere so that the only air reaching the bed comes from above.

An object of the invention is to provide in connection with such an enclosure whether it be for a bed or for another use, means for establishing adjacent the upper open top of the enclosure a blanket or strata of air which while cooler than the air of the general atmosphere surrounding the enclosure will be somewhat warmer than the air within the enclosure and will therefore not sink downward into the enclosure.

Another object is to provide means for the control and regulation of movement of air into and out of the enclosed space.- It will be understood that a variety of conditions may arise which make it desirable to vary the speed with which air moves into and out of the enclosed space or to vary the speed withwhich air is recirculated within the enclosed space and it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a mechanism and a process for accomplishing these purposes.

Another object is to provide means for controlling the formation, maintenance and movement of said blanket or strata of air. Other objects will appear from time to time throughout the specification and claims.

This invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the'accompanying drawings, wherein--- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of my device with parts broken away and parts in section.

The cooling mechanism is not shown in detail;

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the left hand end looking downward in the direction of arrows 2.-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end View of the left hand end look- Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail elevation of the left hand portion taken at line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged sectional detail taken at line 11 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged transverse sectional detail taken at line 8-8 of Fig. 5 showing the tensioning device for the adjustable hood;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational detail with parts broken away showing the latched portion of Fig. 3; I

Figures 10 to 19 inclusive illustrate diagrammatically the formation of the air blanket or strata and the circulation of the air which occurs in various modifications of the invention and in various changed positions of parts of the apparatus which will be described in detail;

Fig. 10 shows a bed with a single cooling coil above which is mounted an adjustable hood. The hood is positioned to produce maximum air recirculation;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10but shows two cooling coils and two hoods;

Fig. 12 shows the construction of Fig. 10 with the hood rotated from a left hand to a right hand position and thus offering a maximum resistance to air recirculation;

Fig. 13 is similar to Fig. 11 but both hoods have been moved to a single position from that shown in Fig. 11 and each ofiers a maximum resistance to recirculation;

Fig. 14 shows a single coil arrangement in which the hood has been omitted;

Fig. 15 showsv a double coil arrangement in which there are no hoods;

Fig. 16 shows the device of Fig. 10 with the addition of adjustable air ports or escape slots in the ends of the beds;

Fig. 1'7 shows a device in general like that of Fig. 11, with .the addition of adjustable air ports as in Fig. 16 and with the elimination of one adjustable hood, and the substitution of an air intake hood;

Fig. 18 shows the device of Fig. 16 with the hood rotated to the position of maximum resistance to air recirculation; Fig. 19 shows a device similar to that of Fig. 17, except that the intake hood is omitted and there are 'two air control hoods each of which is in the position of maximum resistance to air re-circulation.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the several figures.

As shown the device comprises an open topped housing which may be of almost any suitable design or shape. The particular form shown since it is intended primarily for a bed is preferably rectangular in shape. It may or may not be made of insulating material. As shown, there is a casing or housing designated generally as I. The ends are preferably fixed and pairs of doors 2, 2, may be hinged or otherwise movably mounted upon the ends as at 3, 3. The doors may be provided with transparent members 4, 4. One

or the other or both of the ends may be provided with an opening 5, which is covered by means of a sheath 6 which is slotted as at 1, the slot being covered by a downwardly extending hood 8. As shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 4, the size of the opening v5 is such that ,when the sheath 6 is moved to its lowermost position, the slot 1 is closed by a portion of the end wall l The sheath may be raised, however, to the position shown in Fig. 4 by bringing the slot opposite or in register with the opening 5 and so permitting a circulation of air through the slot as shown by the arrows in Fig. 4. The floor or bottom of the housing may be formed by a sheet of preferably insulating material 9, which while it may touch the walls of the housing, is preferably not attached to it but separated from it by a rubber or other cushion support III which as shown supports the member 9 about its edges but might be formed to support it elsewhere. Mattresses or cushions II, Il, may be put within the enclosure to rest upon the member 9. Any form of mattress or cushion construction may be used and the invention is in no way limited to the cushions shown nor to the particular details of the construction of the housing itself. Broadly, for the purpose of the invention, it is suflicient that an enclosure be used which is sufliciently air tight and it is preferable of course that the air ports or slots be formed in the housing.

Almost any desired form of cooling or refrigerating means may be used. These are preferably located within and adjacent to but slightly below the open edge of the housing. As shown, the cooling device, whether one or more be used, comprises a cooling member such as a coil, an air directing and condensate collecting assembly beneath it, and an adjustable air or air current directing hood above it. The particular details of the cooling coil form no essential part of the invention. A cooling coil l2 may be used. It is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5. Fluid necessary for the cooling may be cooled by a compressor, not here shown, which may be positioned away from the enclosure. Inlet and outlet pipes I3 and I4, respectively, connect the cooling assembly with the compressor. 'A perforated sheath I5 is positioned beneath the cooling means. The perfo- -rations provide a path and the sheath itself serves to some degree to direct air from the cooling coil downwardly into the enclosure. An inwardly and downwardly inclined bafile I6 is positioned above and inside the sheath l5 to receive and direct condensate as shown in detail in Fig. 5. The condensate is directed to a second downwardly inclined baffle l1 along the lower edge of which is formed a trough l8. One or more perforations I9 may be formed in the member I1 and in communication with the trough l8, through which condensate passes into the tank or receiving portion 20, where it may be retained and dumped periodically or from which it may be constantly withdrawn by an outlet connection not here shown.

Above the cooling coil or other cooling means is positioned a curved and preferably arcuate hood 2|, which runs the length of the coil, is provided with two downwardly bent portions 22, each of which is pivoted upon a bearing pin 23, which is itself received in a suitable support 24, shown in detail in Fig. 8. The pin 23 is preferably provided with an enlarged head 25 beneath which is positioned a friction member 26 which is in contact with the inner side of the head 25 and with one side of the support 24. A second friction member 2! lies about the bearing pin 23 and contacts one face of the support 24 and the adjacent face of the member 22. A third friction member 28 contacts the opposite face of the member 22. A friction or bearing plate 29 is positioned about the pin 23 and bears against the friction member 28, being urged against it yieldingly by a spring 30 which is positioned about the bearing pin 23 and adjustably held in place by a nut 3|, which may be adjusted upon the outer threaded end 32 of the bearing pin 23.

A washer or other similar member 33 may be 0 positioned between the nut 3| and the spring 30.

As shown, the sheath 6 carrying a slot 1 and the hood 8, is adjustable vertically. Any means might be provided to accomplish this adjustment. As shown, a member 34 formed as a rack or carrying a series of notches is mounted in a track 35. There will be one such track for each side of each of the members 6, and preferably a member 34 in or adjacent each of said tracks. A latch member 36 is mounted on the sheath 6 and by means of a spring 31 is urged into the notches or the teeth of the rack member 34. These latch members may be manipulated so that the sheath may be raised to any desired position and then looked in that position.

The form of the device shown in Fig. 17 differs from the other forms in the provision of means for taking in air at a point below the top of the enclosure. Under normal conditions the coolest air in any enclosed space such as a room or house is at the bottom and for some purposes it is an advantage to take in some or all of the air supplyfrom a point adjacent the floor or bottom of the room or space within which the enclosure is positioned. This is accomplished by using an enclosed intake 38 which has an open intake mouth 39 adjacent to but separate from the floor. At its upper end the member 38 terminates in a downwardly faced hood portion 40 which overlies and covers the cooling coil. Thus as the cooling coil is effective to coolest air which sinks downwardly into the enclosure and other air is correspondingly drawn upwardly through the member 38 from the open intake 39 adjacent the floor of the room and thus the air taken in is withdrawn from the coolest portion of the room. This arrangement might be used in connection with many modifications of the apparatus shown.

If the device of this invention were made as shown in Figure 15, the movement of air into and out of the enclosure and the circulation and re-circulation of the air within the enclosure will follow generally the arrow lines shown. The blanket is shown as lying slightly above and slightly below the open top of the enclosure. The housings which enclose the cooling members act to some extent to guide and deflect the currents of air. As the warm air is cooled by the cooling means it falls and the air which has been within the enclosure is raised as its temperature rises. The warm air will move upwardly into the area of the so-called blanket and some of it will flow along with the blanket and will spill out as shown by the arrows. Some of it will be cooled again and deflected downwardly. I have found that this recooling and recirculation of air within the enclosure may be controlled so as to be speeded up or slowed down by the adjustable hoods or guide members 2|. As shown in Figure 10, there is one cooling means and one such hood. The air which lies within the blanket and flows toward the hood is deflected downwardly toward the hood directly to the cooling means and thus this air which is cooler than the atmosphere above is recooled and recirculated.

In the form shown in Figure 11 there are two such cooling means and two hoods 2|, and each is positioned to cause recirculation so that the air within the blanket which is tending to spill over the outside of the enclosure is at two points prevented'from spilling over and deflected directly to the cooling means. In this arrangement the recirculation is more rapid than in the arrangement shown in Figure 10 or the arrangement shown in Figure 15.

As shown in Figures 12, 13, the directing hoods 2| are turned so as to exert a minimum effect in directing or deflecting the air to the cooling means and thus the re-circulation of air within the enclosures is reduced to the minimum possible with a construction in which the hoods 2| are used at all.

A greater circulation and recirculation can be obtained in a device in which some means is provided for setting up a current out of the enclosure at a point below its top. Figures 16 to 19, inclusive, show modifications of this arrangement and in them one or more cooling means may be used and with each of these cooling means a controlling hood 2| is used. These hoods may be adjusted to increase or decrease the air re-circulation and the members 6 may be raised and lowered to permit and to increase or decrease the escape of air from the enclosure at a point or points below its top. Thus in this form of the device the hoods 2| and the members 6 are adjusted in co-operation with each other to accomplish efiective control of the movement of the air into and within and out of the enclosure. By using openings in the enclosure below its top the movement of air into and through the enclosure may be expedited and thus the change of air within the enclosure may be expedited and stagnation can be prevented.

I claim:

1. In combination with means forming an open top receptacle, means for establishing a body of air adjacent and across the top of said receptacle, which forms a distinct boundary between the room air and the air in the receptacle, a cooling device within the receptacle and adjacent its 'top, and means for guiding air comprising a hood positioned adjacent said cooling device, the receptacle having an opening below the top through which air may be passed by gravity.

2. In combination with means forming an open top receptacle, means for establishing a body of airadjacent and across the top of said receptacle, which forms a distinct boundary between/ the room air and the air in the receptacle, a cooling device within the receptacle and adjacent its top, and means for guiding air comprising an adjustable hood positioned adjacent said cooling device, and an air opening through the wall of said receptacle.

3. In combination with means forming an open -top receptacle, means for establishing a body of air adjacent and across the top of said receptacle, which forms a distinct boundary between the room air and the air in the receptacle, a cooling device within the receptacle, and means for guiding air comprising a hood positioned adjacent said cooling device, and an air opening through the wall of said receptacle, said opening being adjustable vertically.

4. In combination with means forming an open top receptacle, means for establishing a body of air adjacent and across the top of said receptacle, which forms a distinct boundary between the room air and the air in the receptacle, a cooling device within the receptacle, and means for guiding air comprising a hood positioned adjacent said cooling device, and an air opening through the wall of said receptacle, said open ing being adjustable vertically, and means for closing said opening.

5. In combination with means forming an open top receptacle, means for establishing a body of air adjacent and across the top of said receptacle, which forms a distinct boundary between the room air and the air in the receptacle, a plurality of cooling devices within the receptacle and adjacent its top and means for guiding air comprising an adjustable hood positioned adjacent each of said cooling devices, and a plurality of air openings through the wall of said receptacle, each of said openings adjustable vertically, and means for closing said openings, the receptacle having a plurality of air openings through the wall, each of said openings adjustable vertically.

6. An air cooling and circulating device comprising means forming an open top air-isolating compartmenafor isolating a quantity of air, and means for cooling the upper portion of said isolated air to cause it to drop to the bottom of said compartment, a portion of the warmer air passing up and escaping over the edges of the top of the said compartment, said cooling means comprising a cooling device, means for guiding air comprising a hood positioned adjacent said cooling means. I i

'7. An air cooling and circulating device comprising means forming an open top air-isolating compartment, for isolating a quantity of air, and means for cooling the upper portion of said isolated air to cause it to drop to the bottom of said compartment, a portion of the warmer air passing up and escaping over the edges of the top of said compartment, said cooling means comprising a cooling device, positioned adjacent and slightly below the top of said compartment, means for guiding air comprising an adjustable hood positioned adjacent said cooling means.

8. An air cooling and circulating device comprising means forming an open top air-isolating compartment, for isolating a quantity of air, and means for cooling the upper portion of said isolated air to cause it to drop to the bottom of said compartment, 2. portion of the warmer air passing up and escaping over the edges of the top of the said compartment, said cooling means comprising a cooling device, means for guiding air comprising a hood positioned adjacent said cooling means, said compartment having an air outlet, said outlet being located between the top and the bottom of said compartment.

9. An air cooling and circulating device comprising means forming an open top air-isolating compartment, for isolating a quantity of air, and means for cooling the upper portion of said isolated air to cause it to drop to the bottom of said compartment, a portion of the warmer air pass- 75 ing up and escaping over the edges of the top of said compartment, said cooling means comprising a cooling device, positioned adjacent and slightly below the top of said compartment, an adjustable air-guiding hood positioned adjacent said cooling means, said compartment having an air outlet, said outlet being located between the top and the bottom of said compartment.

10. An air cooling and circulating device comprising an open top air-isolating compartment, for isolating a quantity of air,- and means for cooling the upper portion of said isolated air to cause it to drop to the bottom of said compartment, a portion of the warmer air passing up and escaping over the edges of the top of said compartment, said cooling means comprising a cooling device, positioned adjacent and slightly below the top of said compartment, means for guiding air comprising an adjustable hood positioned adjacent said cooling means, said compartment having an air outlet, said outlet being located be tween the top and the bottom of said compartment, and adjustable vertically as to position.

11. In combination with an open top receptacle closed at the bottom and the sides, means for cooling and moving and recirculating the air in said receptacle, said means comprising a cooling device within the receptacle and above its bottom and means associated with said receptacle and adapted to be projected above the open top thereof for controlling the recirculation of air within thereceptacle.

-l2. In combination with means forming an open top receptacle, means for cooling and mov-' ing and recirculating the air in said receptacle, said means comprising a cooling device within the receptacle and above its bottom'and means for guiding and controlling the recirculation of air within the receptacle comprising a hood ad: jacent said cooling device.

13. In combination with means forming an open top receptacle, means for cooling and moving and recirculating the air in said receptacle, said means comprising a cooling device within the receptacle and above its bottom and means for guiding and controlling the recirculation of air within the receptacle comprising an adjustable hood positioned to overlie the cooling device.

WILLARD L. MORRISON. 

